The uninformed consumer (read: not you, dear readers) may be forgiven for not realizing Google's voice search/voice assistant/Google Now thing is attempting to compete head-on with Siri, what with lacking a name and not being nearly as anthropomorphized. However, Google's voice powers are, indeed, aimed squarely at making the act of finding and using information far easier than Apple's automaton. In this video, the two go voice-to-voice and...okay, let's not beat around the bush.

Solid Explorer Beta was released a few months ago, and was instantly a fabulous file management app. It's clever use of swipable columns and fragments makes it easy to move things around. If you've noticed a distinct lack of updates as of late, there's a reason for that. The developer is unable to update the original app anymore, so it's been unpublished.

The old beta version of the app is now expired, and directs users to update in order to continue using Solid Explorer.

Verizon has taken some flack lately for being the only US carrier to lock the bootloader. Workarounds have been implemented, but Samsung's taken it a step further by announcing a developer version of the device. Today they...well, they haven't quite made good on that promise, but they have created a landing page for the device on their site that announces the 32GB Pebble Blue version will be "coming soon".

In a feat that, according to the CyanogenMod team, serves "as an indication of potential," Jason Parker (aka kornyone) has managed to boot CyanogenMod 9 on the Nexus Q.

Starting with fastboot, adb pushing, and running "just about any sideloaded APK" (including XBMC), Parker has been pushing the Q's potential over the past week in an effort that has culminated in getting a CM9 build (based on the Tuna/Maguro repositories and prebuilt kernel) to run on the device.

Earlier this week, we mentioned that the amazing folks behind the XBMC project are bringing the app to Android. Well, it's still very early, but would you like to see what it's gonna be like? Of course you do. If you've got a Nexus Q or an Android-compatible set top box, you can download the apk from our mirrors below. For the rest of you, here's what it looks like running on a lovingly hacked Nexus Q, courtesy of Cyanogenmod developer Jason Parker:

After silently activating in most of its launch markets this weekend, Sprint's 4G LTE network has finally been officially announced. A promotional launch video released today explains Sprint's 4G LTE rollout and Network Vision, and encourages viewers to comment on the burgeoning LTE network's performance.

To that end, things aren't looking great for Sprint's new 4G network – at launch, it is promising just 6-8 Megabits per second download speed (burstable to 25Mbps) and 2-3 Megabits per second upload.

Today, Samsung posted an official demo video of some of Galaxy S III's more advanced features, such as Smart Stay, S Voice, Smart Alert, Direct Call, and social tagging. Ironically, while showcasing just how intelligent the phone is, we are treated to the following hilarious answer by S Voice:

Hey, it's 18 degrees Fahrenheit in Los Angeles! That's -8 Celsius. In May. Look what you've done, Sammy - now we're going to need to edit Wikipedia to amend the previous record of 24F from 1944.

The Android Police Week In Review is back! And that shouldn't be surprising, because it's Sunday. Unless you have amnesia. Or you're just reading it for the first time. I'm going to guess the latter is probably a little more common. And whether you're an amnesiac or a first-timer, you can catch a lot of these stories on our podcast, too.

We're picking up on the sub-series of polls on your use of the Play store from a few weeks ago, but with a new twist: magazines. Prior to I/O 2012, pretty much nobody used the Play store for movies and music (though Google hopes that will change with slightly more full shelves and the Nexus 7), but what about the new magazines section of the store?

When you try to think of companies that have a motivation to sue over smartphone patents involving Android, Fujifilm may very well be close to the bottom of the list, but you'd be wrong. The company has recently filed a lawsuit against Google subsidiary Motorola Mobility for infringing four of its patents.

The brouhaha began back in April 2011 (for those counting, that's a solid four months before Google even announced its acquisition of the company).